WHAT TO WATCH, WHAT TO WATCH

I do not watch many TV shows. This year’s Olympics marked the first time I had turned on a TV without also turning on a DVD player or video game console since April. With a few exceptions (which I’ll get to in due time), most of my TV experience comes from walking through the room when my roommates are watching something. This does tend to broaden my experience. I know more about politics than I would otherwise thanks to my current roommates’ choice of shows. My previous roommate helped improve my sports awareness while his girlfriend worked on keeping me up to date in reality shows.

It is something of a trap for me. Though I tend to avoid activating the device myself, I have difficulty passing unhindered through a room where it is already on. I stop, I watch. At home it drives my parents crazy because I tend to stand behind the couch, always on the verge of taking that next step towards my intended goal, but never actually taking it. Whoever is there will finally get tired of having me watch over their shoulder and will ask (tell) me to sit down. If it’s my parents’ house, I’ll walk around the couch and sit. If it’s mine, I tend to climb over the back of the couch instead. Either way, I get sucked in. But only for that one episode. I watch, then go away, rarely ever seeking a repeat performance. There are, however, a few exceptions.

Occasionally, I will find a show appealing enough that I actually schedule time to watch it and will, of my own volition and without prompting, turn on the TV with the express purpose of watching said show. The Simpsons, The Tick, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and most recently Scrubs. This phenomenon only rarely occurs simultaneously. One show will begin to fail (Simpsons) or get canceled (Tick, Buffy) before I discover the next one.

I mention this because the new Scrubs season has begun and once again I find myself planning my Tuesdays around this event. Actively preparing to watch a TV show is a rare occurrence for me, a noteworthy event. So I note it here. It being an event I also like to share, those of you who live nearby are invited to come watch with me. Those who do not live nearby will just have to watch it on their own. Those inclined to neither, some explaining may be required. But converting you will have to wait. I need to go learn how to use my TV again. I have a show to prepare for.